Both projects address complex institutional issues which require examining both the policy context and the broader governance aspects. SULQ explores the gap between the public employment service, which has few resources to follow up re-integration of the unemployed into the labour market, and the vocational training system, which mainly benefits those who have already some levels of skills. This leaves the low-skilled workers with few opportunities for upskilling to help them retain jobs and progress in employment, unless innovative solutions are provided locally. LIILM focuses on the poor adaptation of the integration policies to the complex social, economic and labour market problems faced by the migrant populations, to which an integrated approach may help provide sustainable solutions. Both projects examine the local initiatives that have emerged to overcome these obstacles and fill these gaps.

The projects are expected to feed the work on local governance with practical examples of successful combination of resources and expertise from government, business and civil society. Belgium/Flanders, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States participate in the SULQ project, due to be completed in 2005. The LIILM project is being implemented in Italy and two South-East European countries in 2004 and in four other countries in 2005. The project will be completed in 2006.